Category: Autumn

Now that we are back to being between holidays (so everyone is not going crazy over turkey and sweet potato everything), it’s definitely time to enjoy some of the other flavors of fall. Kale is definitely one of those flavors. I know it was all the rage several years ago and has fallen somewhat out of favor (to be replaced by avocado for the moment), but I really like using it in salads. It gives the salad a much heartier flavor and meatier mouthfeel that makes you feel like you are eating more. It also balances very well with the…Continue Reading

We spent the last several weeks in Italy, hence the lack of posts (I didn’t get enough ready before we left). But I have come back with many ideas for flavor combinations: turmeric, shrimp, and caramelized onions, a nut meringue custard cake, and an extra long layover in Stockholm meant we tried a moose burger with lingon berry ketchup. I will also have to perfect some sweet and sour onions I had with a lightly cooked tuna. But on to today’s recipe. I had been seriously desiring some sort of creamy dessert for a couple days – but not something…Continue Reading

When the garden started producing lots of eggplant, I started experimenting with caponata since I really like vegetable chutneys. But since it’s me, I failed to follow a recipe in any way. So this is a very non-traditional caponata that tastes excellent on crusty bread or pita. I did start with recipes from Smitten Kitchen and Bon Appetit, augmenting them for the flavors I like. I really liked Smitten Kitchen’s inclusion of pine nuts for some textural contrast, but I didn’t have celery or olives, so I included peppers for flavor and reduced the onion a bit. I also changed…Continue Reading

Sometimes subtle flavors can be some of the best. You don’t need to drown something in sauce to make it taste good. That’s not to say there aren’t delicious sauces that you might want to put on everything. But there are times when you don’t want to put a bunch of effort into a dish, and that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor. This is one of those quick to throw together dishes which tastes delicious. I tend to keep cooked chickpeas and hard-boiled eggs available as much as possible because they are such easy additions to a salad…Continue Reading

Continuing on the trend of contest entries, I participated in the cooking competition hosted by Il Fiorello as part of this last weekend’s Fairfield Tomato Festival. Obviously, the parameters involved tomatoes. I did several entries as there were multiple categories and I wanted to push myself. For the soup I did a sweet corn and tomato gazpacho, as a salad I did a fried eggplant, tomato, and onion, and for the sauce category I did this tomato coconut chicken – which won the sauce category (even though I think it kind of stretches the definition of sauce). I will post…Continue Reading